AZ: SPEEDWORLD CLOSING!!! - PLEASE READ

[azpyroguy]

We need to stand in and help the owner and the problem that the county seems to have with him.

What you have here is nothing but a bunch of government bureaucrats who think that they are missing out on a tiny bit of revenue and want to pull the plug on Speedworld.

The county needs to hear from the USERS of the track to show them just how important of a place this is to us.

Me personally I got there because I live in the west valley and dont want to drive 50+ miles to get to Firebird.

There is enough room for 2 drag strips in the valley, Firebird in the east and Speedworld in the west.

Speedworld must close, Maricopa County says

 

[Falcon]

Damn.......Just last night I saw that Firebird might be closing as well!

NHRA's future at Firebird International Raceway in question

 

[SrtBrad]

Seems like there is a bad rash of dragstip closures in the West. LA has had 2 that recently closed but 1 just reopened.

Looks like you AZ folk will soon need to drive to LA now to race.

 

[azpyroguy]

Bunch of bureaucratic BS if you ask me....

Imperial County did a similar thing to a great camping area out at the dunes a few years ago....

We had a great area called "The Pound".

It was basically a gated off area on private land that we paid $500/yr to have reserved spot with full access to the dunes, each one of us still paid of $90/yr to the BLM for access to the dunes.

The area was a "By membership Only", and was not improved except for a few things such as:

- Wireless Internet
- Defined Roads/Paths
- Defined Camping Slots
- Gathering Cookout Area
- Kiddie Track that was groomed and supervised.
- Limited lighting

The county wanted the owner/lessee to go in and put in these things:

- Paved Roads
- 2 Male and Female Showers for every 12 campers
- 6 Male and 6 Female Bathrooms
- Running Water
- Full Sewer and Septic
- Full Lighting
- Full Hookup Power

What they failed to realize that none of the tenants wanted this, as all the rigs had - full toilets, showers, generators, water supply, and sewer storage. Tent camping was strictly prohibited. Access was by membership only "Country Club Style", and that we drove off road vehicles that would just tear up both the tires and paving if we were to drive on it.

It was not about putting in the services, but it was about improving the area making it a higher value so they could tax it at a much higher rate.

They were getting "some taxes" and we had a special use permit, which was fine, up until some bean counter thought they could extract more money from us...

Well... it backfired on them.... we closed up shop, removed all the stuff, and now its a empty lot, and they are now getting less tax dollars on the area than they were before while we were there, as its considered now unused land.

Dumb-asses.... again.. typical government bureaucrats who have no idea how to function in real life....real world situations...

 

[JAYSSRT]

If both strips close, I see street racing in the near future !

 

[Shaggy]

Damn.......Just last night I saw that Firebird might be closing as well!

NHRA's future at Firebird International Raceway in question

That would suck!

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

This sucks, drag strips barely make money as it is. When people start taking it to the street and people get hurt they wonder why. There's nothing better than havin a close local track!

 

[Psycho1122]

Phoenix Metro area is in dire need of a world class racing facility. With a metropolitan market this large, there is no reason why it could not happen.

Our current facilities are more like "Farm Roads". They are in very poor condition and facilities are barely modern.

There is a reason major events are not held at Speedworld. In conjunction with that, Fireturd had a rebelion against them by the NHRA Pro Stockers due to poor track conditions.

No suprise here..........

 

[phxpoolguy]

Speedworld can't build anything due to it being leased from the state of AZ and Luke AFB. Any improvements that Dan would make stay with the property if they decided not to renew his lease. There is a reason why all the roads to Speedworld are like crap, Psycho 1122. You're not gonna rent a house and then remodel it if you dont own it.

 

[azpyroguy]

For the time being, they are open, here is a email link their marketing director sent me...

http://speedworldmx.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Speedworld-Press-Release-06-15-20121.jpg

 

[Psycho1122]

Speedworld can't build anything due to it being leased from the state of AZ and Luke AFB. Any improvements that Dan would make stay with the property if they decided not to renew his lease. There is a reason why all the roads to Speedworld are like crap, Psycho 1122. You're not gonna rent a house and then remodel it if you dont own it.

That was the point of my post. Crap facility(s) = poor turn out and lost revenue. Catch 22. Good ol' "Charlie" at Fireturd had made a butload of money leasing the grounds without putting much money into it. It is catching up to him, others and us though.:chain:

It also does not help that fewer people are working, fuel is dropping but still high and thus taking away discretionary income to go play.

 

[Chuck B]

That was the point of my post. Crap facility(s) = poor turn out and lost revenue. Catch 22. Good ol' "Charlie" at Fireturd had made a butload of money leasing the grounds without putting much money into it. It is catching up to him, others and us though.:chain:

It also does not help that fewer people are working, fuel is dropping but still high and thus taking away discretionary income to go play.

Thus another reason XcelTrackdays.com and CCS racing disappeared from Firebird. We now use AMP and INDE for our road course.